Best Free Anonymous Surfing Service
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In a Hurry?
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Introduction
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The most obvious anonymous browsing application for most people is in internet cafes, on public terminals, using wireless or even wired access points away from home, or in fact, on any PC including your own, where you don't want to leave traces of your private surfing activities. Some other browsing activity cleaners exist that clear the cache, cookies, history and other traces, some are even available as a standard in most browsers, but anonymous browsing goes a step further. What attracts me is not so much the privacy aspect, but rather the security potential, because all of the anonymizing browser proxy based services create a secure encrypted connection between the PC you are using and the first anonymizing proxy server. This allows you to safely transmit information with little risk of local interception, making it ideal for surfing on open Wi-Fi networks, or in hotels while travelling. Previously, secure surfing on such networks required the use of private VPN networks, generally an option only available to corporate employees, those with the available money to pay for it and the technically savvy. Now, using any of the Tor or JAP based browsers, any surfer can reap the same sort of security benefits for their browsing. Whatever the reasons anyone may have for using anonymizing browsing, commercial services that offer anonymity are doing well, and a number of both free and subscription based browsing applications and services have become available. Two dominant services exist which provide the foundation for free, secure anonymous browsing. The JAP network was good enough that the German Police insisted in 2004, that a backdoor be put into the product to allow interception of child pornographers. This was done, but subsequently removed as a result of court action by the JAP development team. The alternative is Tor (The Onion Ring), which is a system that not only allows anonymous browsing but also anonymous P2P, email, IM, and IRC chat. Given the US Navy origin of Tor, the suspicion inevitably arises that this system may have a permanent backdoor, however, the source code is now publicly available so that suspicion can perhaps be set aside. More worrying was a raid by German police in September 2006 involving the seizure of some Tor servers in that country. Again, pedophiles were the supposed target, but who really knows. |
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Discussion
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JonDo (previously known as JAP) is my second choice and is in some ways a more flexible option, in that it is simply a Java application that performs the role of a local (PC based) proxy server that redirects browser requests via the JonDo (formerly JAP) network. This allows the user to configure their choice of any browser rather than requiring a change to Opera. Unfortunately, being Java based means that the application becomes somewhat bloated, requiring 54Mb of memory just for the Java JonDo application, as well as another few Mb for the JAP engine, and then whatever additional is required for the web browser of choice. JonDo does have quite a nice GUI display which shows the strength of the anonymity based on the number of anonymizing proxy servers, and takes care of managing the random proxy changes for greater anonymity. A commercial service known as JonDonym has been introduced which uses dedicated servers to provide higher speeds, higher levels of availability and more security along with support for chat, ftp and ssh in addition to web browsing. Another offering from the commercial JonDonym group is JonDoFox, a customized version of Firefox with JonDo code embedded along with other anonymizing optimizations. Unfortunately, JonDo not being a network like Tor is prone to some limitations in terms of the numbers of free servers, and some subsequent downtimes may be more likely with the smaller server base. Vidalia is my third choice, a close match to JonDo in that it is quite a bit lighter in memory use and generally feels faster, but may not have the same level of anonymizing as JonDo. Vidalia is another integrated package using a combination of Privoxy and a Tor engine to connect to the Tor network, but it offers many new features. As with JonDo, Vidalia behaves as a local proxy for use by any browser, but it also provides configurations allowing it to run either as a simple standalone process or as a Windows service (for security and performance reasons, among others). Vidalia allows the user to participate in the anonymizing process by becoming a Tor Relay to help censored users in a similar way to becoming a BitTorrent relay, and a live realtime facility is available showing a map of the earth with lines representing connections to the Tor server participants. Vidalia uses 24 - 32Mb of memory, with an additional 4Mb used for Privoxy and another 16.5Mb for the Tor engine. One initially confusing aspect of Vidalia is that it provides a configuration access through port 9051, but it is not immediately obvious that Privoxy is listening on port 8118. Browsers using the Vidalia bundle must be configured to use the Privoxy port 8118 as the proxy server, not port 9051. Like JonDo, the Vidalia/Privoxy combination constantly changes proxy servers to mask the trail to provide greater anonymity. Whatever your preference, both JAP and Tor networks offer a level of secrecy that is better than many commercial systems, though they are not watertight. Expect your surfing to slow down, in some case substantially, because you'll be relayed through a chain of servers, all heavily impacted by BitTorrent users seeking to hide from the RIAA. Note: the latest V5 release of JAP now allows Tor users to use JAP as a software access point to the Tor network. The XeroBank Browser (previously known as TorPark) provides a new customized version of the Firefox browser configured to work with the free Tor anonymizing service, or with a subscription service for higher speeds using dedicated servers, and other features. Firefox users may feel more comfortable with XeroBank, as it is based on Firefox, but also need not make any changes at all if they make use of either the JonDo or Vidalia bundles to access the Tor engine other than to set the proxy server, and of course, manual cleanup of the cache, cookies and browsing history after use. XeroBank claims to have many advanced features, but for the average user most of these may not be apparent, unless the subscription service is used. While the XeroBank browser is free to use on the Tor network, the XeroBank web site promotes the use of their subscription-based account. During installation, the XeroBank Browser offers the choice of using either the commercial XeroBank Client or the free Tor service. Caution! Some antivirus scanners report trojan infected code in the XeroBank download. Use http://jotti.org to verify all downloads, and use XeroBank and all other applications with caution, but be aware that some of the virus scanners used by jotti.org may also be overly zealous in their reporting of infections. Some claimed virus or trojan infections in various applications are no more than firewall detection, or software product key reporting capabilities mis-diagnosed by the scanner as a potential threat. The downside of XeroBank as contrasted with using JonDo or Vidalia, is that you would need to use XeroBank for anonymous browsing and your regular browser for other surfing. Using JonDo or Vidalia, you can use the browser of your choice, and just reconfigure to use the proxy when you want to anonymous surfing. This won't automatically clean out all other personal data (cache, history, cookies etc.) when the application is shut down, which OperaTor and XeroBank do. For all anonymizing services, check that you are running in anonymous mode by first browsing to one of many servers which reports your IP address, for example http://www.whatismyip.com/ and take note of your IP address. Reconfigure your browser to make use of the anonymizing service, and reload / refresh the browser and verify that the reported IP address has changed. Some IP reporting servers will also tell you which country, and even which city you now appear to be connecting from. Most of the services reviewed are able to run directly from a USB flash drive if the executables are simply copied as is from their installation directories. This works really well, just plug your flash drive into any PC with a USB port, launch both the anonymizing proxy software and a browser, set the browser to redirect via the anonymizer and you will be in business. In the case of both OperaTor and XeroBank, all you need to is launch the browser from your flash drive and you will be ready to start browsing.
I'm a freeware and open source fan, I can read and write programs, but not when the source file is corrupted, and I am not likely to start poring through tens of thousands of lines of code even if I could unpack the source. Even if it does unpack, how do we know that exact source was used to build the tool, and not another set of customized source with a built in Trojan or spyware? The reality is that we really don't know unless we both inspect the source code and then compile it and compare the distributed executable. One final comment on anonymizing, your browsing activities will never be 100% secure and guaranteed to be anonymous. It will be very difficult for anyone to trace you while browsing through the Tor network, except as reported in the Tor wiki, "when you access pages that use Java, Javascript, Macromedia Flash and Shockwave, QuickTime, RealAudio, ActiveX controls, and VBScript are all known to be able to access local information about your operating system and local network. These technologies will work over proxies and can tunnel the information back to their source." |
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Does anyone know how effective the new proxy option in the browser Ixquick/Startpage is? Would it be equal to Tor,Anonymizer or similar? Thank You
OperaTor still hasn't update to the new Tor version, and that may cause security issues.
this is my list :
ultrasurf
freegate
tor
jondo jap
puffthe the magic dragon(eright.net)
garden
opera tor
hot spot shield
gpass
gtunnel
cproxy
Gtunnel
hide ip
hope this helps
which one do you like the most and plz explain why...ty
that's a great list(thanks). I just ran across another that I'm currently using and it's working really well. It's easy to set up. Initially, I began the set-up using ie8 then as instructed, pasted the url address into my fav browser(at the moment)wyzo(firefox clone)and I have found it to be very fast and stable,but with one glitch that so far I've been unable to solve...can only watch streaming movies in small screen. When I switch to full screen the screen goes totally black. A small icon runs in ur system tray and it starts when u boot up ur puter...but u can also turn it off whenever u want. I ran a ck on it using virus total and it was 0/40. I also ran it for a day in virtual just to see what I thought of it. Also, I checked with whatismyip and indeed it is showing a different location and has changed my ip.
Give it a try, I think you will like it.
fyi...just ran decloak test on it(freenet)only thing it showed was changed ip and everything else showed "unknown".
omg...can't believe I left out the name of the app...it's "freenet".
1.) I am surprised there is no mention of the Tor Browser Bundle
https://www.torproject.org/torbrowser/
It is from the Tor Project itself, completely free and open source.
(Seems ironic that trying to post from TBB triggered the spam filter)
2.)
Why would you trust anything from XeroBank after that?
I totally agree with both points.
If someone wrote a program with malicious or sneaky code, I would think that they would be extremely protective in controlling who could see that code, not allowing anyone with any suspicion of blowing the whistle to get near it.
I have been using "Hide My IP", it works, but it is slow. I have been thinking about trying OperaTor, but is it really any faster, and does it mask your IP?
I have also tried "JONDO", but it is really slow as hell, and it does not mask your IP that will at all.
Thanks for all the great input. I have tried and used vidalia bundle a couple of times and just found that it slowed my surfing down so much that it made no sense to keep using it. Based on mention of UltraSurf, I decided to give it a try. First just to be safe, I downloaded using returnil. Then I ran a scan using Virus Total. Six of the scan engines out of 40 flagged it. None of the so called "best" engines such as eset,symantec,trend micro,kapersky etc found anything wrong with it. Also, it will no longer work with firefox v 3.5.4 using the plugin. However, using ie8 it started working immediately and was very fast re surfing(using it now w/returnil).
I submitted it to what is my ip and it showed me as being in an entirely different state and city. Then I submitted it to decloak and all came up as unknown with the exception of flash and that reavealed my true ip. So, I guess if u want to be totally anonymous flash will have to be disabled.
That's my 2 cents from a very non techie person...Hope I helped a lil bit.
Nobody mention the UltraVPN,its a free ware and using a server in France....
I am using now and even http://www.decloak.net/ can not find out my true IP...
You can give a try....
Very nice site!
I will be traveling overseas and I want to access the network television web sites (abc, nbc, cbs, fox) for the purpose of downloading and watching TV shows while out of the country. The networks block access when the user comes in from a ip address that is not in the US. Is there a way to access anonymously or use a proxy server here in the US to access these web sites so it looks like I'm accessing the sites from America?
Try going to Proxy.org
You would be much more likely to get a constructive response to your question if you could repeat your post here in the forum.
http://www.techsupportalert.com/freeware-forum/general-computer-support/
Here is a free basic Virtual private network service that may be worth checking into...
http://www.projectloki.com
I would need to find out a little more about them before using the service.
I found the following post at http://archetwist.com/opera/operator which may be worth considering. I don't know how valid it is, anyone have any comments, experiences, or opinions to relate ?
Post from http://archetwist.com/opera/operator...
"/!\ WARNING /!\ -- This product is (currently) NOT SECURE AT ALL
Submitted by Toby (not verified) on 12 February, 2009 - 17:49.
reply
The current version of OperaTor ships with Opera's “Enable fraud protection” option turned on by default (in Preferences, Advanced, Security.)
THIS MAKES OPERA DO A PLAIN, UNENCRYPTED DNS REQUEST FOR EVERY WEBSITE YOU VISIT
It is easily shown using a network analyzer software, such as Wireshark (which is the first thing I did after installing OperaTor.) It's probably been like this for a long time, if not for ever. This single bug renders the whole OperaTor pointless, as Opera BROADCASTS THE SITES YOU VISIT to your ISP, employer, or anybody else in your local network.
This shows several things:
Never take your online security for granted, double-check everything by yourself; if you can't, because it's not your field of expertise, then:
Avoid using proprietary software like Opera, because you CANNOT know what they do; and
Use only security packages sanctioned by known security experts, such as the pre-configured portable browsers you can download from Tor's homepage. Also,
The developer of OperaTor didn't even think of running a network analyzer, not even once (no offense meant) so there are probably other security shortcomings in this package.
I advice every OperaTor user to switch to another security software RIGHT NOW and cross their fingers in the hope their past activities were not detected."
John
Any update on this OperaTor issue?
Sounds quite alarming.
At the Tor site, it appears there are two downloads...
OperaTor 3.3 - PBwiki (http://operator.pbwiki.com/f/OperaTor-3.3.zip)
OperaTor 3.3 - My Opera (http://files.myopera.com/archetwist/operator/OperaTor-3.3.zip)
What are the differences, advantages and disadvantages, of the two downloads ? How do I know which one I should use ? For some reason, the download page does not seem to even tell the differences between the two downloads, unless I overlooked it somehow.
Any feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks
John
I found out they are both the same files.
John
Try CHROME
How does Chrome make for anonymous surfing?
From what I have read, the "Privacy" mode in Chrome only does two things:
1. When the privacy mode is enabled, no traces are left in the operating system registry, no cookies and history is stored on the local PC.
2. It can also mask the user-agent browser string pretending you are using a different web browser with a different preferred language.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Anonymous-Internet-Surfing---Is-Google-Chrome-...
Neither of those provides anonymous surfing and when you add in the fact that each Chrome installation contains a unique ID that allows identifying its user, it is far from "Anonymous".
http://www.multimolti.de/blog/2008/09/23/make-google-chrome-anonymous/
Google portable have a section for anonimus surfing.It is just a information.I don't know if it's good.
I am looking for a bit of software that fools the IP address on the basis of watching say the BBC iplayer but will only allow me if the IP address is UK based. And similar with US tv websites where you can stream tv shows only if they see you as being in the US. will the anonymous surfing do this or do I need to do something else
The short answer to your question: Yes, anonymous surfing can do this. Some programs tend to prefer proxies in some countries over others. Or you can choose your proxies from a list as one responder posted earlier.
It must be noted that some websites will also use your ping time to check your ability to use their video streaming sites.
For example, Netflix will not allow you to stream video if your ping time is over 75 ms. To check this, visit speedtest.net and use a local server. Note the ping time. Then use a server in the country you want to stream the video. Notice the ping time. Try this with and without your proxy.
Unfortunately, proxies will more than likely slowdown your ping time. So even if you have the "right" IP, you won't have the right type of connect requirements.
I do not know if the anonymous surfing will do what you want.
From what I see on the web on that, most people use a free proxy.
This site lists proxies by country, which should work for your use. Unless the site is aware of the proxy and has blocked it, which appears to happen fairly often and a switch to another proxy is needed.
http://www.freewebproxylist.com/
A little off topic, but go you have a suggestion for similar programs that will work for anonymous usnet posting
Unfortunately the exposure for your question here will be very limited. We have a dedicated section for this in the forum and you would be guaranteed a response if you post there.
http://www.techsupportalert.com/freeware-forum/i-want-freeware-program-t...
How does JanusVM compare to the other services you have discussed? Is it the BEST?
As you might guess from my previous post, I now use JanusVM. I formerly used OperaTor.
The Tor FAQ at https://wiki.torproject.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ mentions JanusVM:
"If your application doesn't behave safely, or you're not sure, you may find it simpler to use a Tor package that sets Tor up as a transparent proxy. On Windows these include JanusVM and Xerobank; on Linux and BSD you can set this up with these instructions."
JanusVM is a better choice than OperaTor, in my opinion. Here are some reasons why JanusVM may be better than OperaTor:
a) Your true IP can be compromised with OperaTor if you turn on Java or plugins (such as Flash, RealPlayer, Quicktime, and others), which you may need for some websites. The reason for this is that OperaTor knows your true IP address, and therefore leakage of your true IP address can happen via Java or plugins. Http://www.decloak.net/ uses some of these methods to try to expose your true IP. With JanusVM, on the other hand, your browser doesn't know your true IP address, so Java, Flash, etc. cannot leak it.
b) OperaTor browser may not be using the latest version of Opera (current OperaTor uses Opera 9.63, which isn't the latest Opera version), which can expose you to drive-by downloads. With JanusVM, you use your existing browser.
c) OperaTor is a different browser from your normal browser, and thus you will not have your bookmarks and other settings available when you use OperaTor. With JanusVM, you use your existing browser. You don't need to change any browser settings when using JanusVM.
d) OperaTor is only for anonymous browsing; other applications aren't anonymized. JanusVM transparently sends all of your computer's TCP traffic through Tor, which allows you to anonymize other applications. You don't need to change any applications' settings when using JanusVM.
Here are some reasons why JanusVM may be better than JonDo or Vidalia:
a) With Vidalia and JonDo, your browser still knows your true IP address, and thus Java, Flash, ActiveX, RealPlayer, Quicktime, Adobe's PDF plugin, and others, if they are enabled, can reveal your true IP address. With JanusVM, on the other hand, your browser doesn't know your true IP address, so Java, Flash, etc. cannot leak it.
b) With Vidalia and JonDo, you have to configure the browser's proxy settings. With JanusVM, you don't change any applications' settings. JanusVM, however, requires the use of a virtual machine (you can use the free VMware Player) and the use of the JanusVM VPN network connection.
Some possible disadvantages of xB Browser are that it may not be based on the latest version of Firefox, which could make you more vulnerable to drive-by downloads, and also xB Browser is a different browser from your normal browser.
You can use http://www.decloak.net/ to test for some methods used to reveal true IP addresses. In my own tests, http://www.decloak.net/ did not reveal my true IP address with JanusVM and FireFox v3.0.11 with Java and JavaScript (and implicitly all plugins) turned on. Http://www.decloak.net/ did reveal my true IP address with OperaTor when I turned on Java, JavaScript, and plugins. It should be noted that by default OperaTor has Java, JavaScript, and plugins turned off, and the OperaTor developer warns that "the only protocols which OperaTor anonymizes are HTTP and HTTPS, thus if you want to stay anonymous you should avoid using other Opera features (e.g. Java, JavaScript, Bittorrent, integrated e-mail and IRC clients)."
Instructions for using JanusVM are found at http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=11251.
If you use JanusVM, you should also run \\JanusVM\Setup\files\TorSEC.exe every time you start JanusVM. See 'Documentation' section at http://janusvm.com/ for an explanation.
Disclosure: I have used OperaTor and JanusVM. I have not used Vidalia, JonDo, or xB Browser. Any corrections are welcome.
Excuseme!. You did say OperaTor was free, but you didn't it was Tryware.
OperaTor is freeware and has never had any nagware / crippleware components.
I had to check and make sure as I have not used it in a while, but OperaTor is freeware, not tryware.
Did you download from the site listed here?
OperaTor pretty much sucks (and anything using Tor for that matter), it almost always gets me an ambiguous IP that doesn't get resolved to any country whatsoever which is completely useless, not to mention that fact that it's beyond slow, browsing websites using a 56K dial-up is even faster than this!
What happened to SandBox??
Is vidalia really unsafe
I downloaded t and used it for about 7 minutes, then uninstalled all of it. could my computer be at some sort of risk?
This page contains a lot of great info, but it's presented in a rather confusing and counterintuitive fashion!
I definitely do not agree with this comment. It is one of the most comprehensive review of the anonymous browsing tools available today.
Kudos.
(Silki)
http://webtoolsandtips.com/pc-security/freeware-free-anonymous-web-brows...
Thanks! We plan on changing it slightly, but not too much.
Maybe you could become an editor and contribute to the site too?
Please consider the REMOVAL of ULTRASURF from this review.
!!!!!!!! http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=237184 !!!!!!!!!!
why would you want it removed i have it and use it all the time never had a problem with it and its very very fast so i cant understand why you would want them to remove ultrasurf.
See this:
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?s=930b0b3f34a5a05cc4689a3eff...
Thank you for your concern. Although Ultrasurf has been the center of some controversy, there is no evidence that it is or ever has been Malware of any form. However, there have been reports of viruses being attached to the program. This can be done to any program in the hands of someone with unkind intentions. You can avoid getting a virus from a known friendly program by downloading it only from the developer’s website.
I don't know if this is true, but the developer of Xerobank and various other people says Ultrasurf is malware.
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=237184
Replies here to make the comment more visible:
I2P!!! Invisible Internet Project FTW!!!!!
www.i2p2.de - Everything you'll ever need! Almost... ;)
For IM and filesharing with friends - OneSwarm!
www.oneswarm.org
I can't agree with your comments regarding Tor. It honestly complicates the function of Firefox so badly that the browser is rendered nearly useless. It also slows down your system terribly.
JL
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